Electric meters, such as watt-hour meters, are commonly used in the electric utility industry. The electric meters are generally utilized to measure the amount of electrical power used at a residential or commercial building location. To secure the electric meter, a meter box or cabinet is generally mounted outside the building, such as on one of the sidewalls of the building. The meter box often contains a meter socket in which the electric meter plugs into during use. The meter socket comprises line terminals that connect to the electric power line conductors extending from the utility power source and load terminals that connect to the residential or commercial building consuming the incoming line power.
The line and load terminals of the meter socket are designed to receive the blade terminals extending outward from the base of the electric meter. Once plugged into the meter socket, the electric meter completes an electric circuit between the line and load terminals of the meter socket. As electricity is transferred from the line terminals to the load terminals (e.g., from the utility line power source to the building) the electric meter measures the amount of electricity provided.
Occasionally, the electric meter will need to be removed for service. For example, one of the terminals or contacts within the electric meter may burn out, thereby reducing the amount of electricity provided to the building. Additionally, the electric meter may malfunction, such that the electric meter does not measure the correct amount of electricity that is utilized by the residential or commercial building.
Removal of an electric meter for repair typically requires a temporary outage of electricity to the building associated with the removed electric meter. To prevent such an inconvenience to businesses and some residences, utility companies install improved meter sockets having a meter bypass, which allows the electric current to bypass the electric meter and flow directly from the utility line power source to the residential or commercial building. During bypass, the electric meter may be removed from the meter socket without interrupting service to the customer. Of course, when the electric meter has been removed, the customer is not being charged for the consumption of electricity.
Additionally, the bypass meter socket may be used to perform a service disconnect for non-pay (e.g., discontinuing electric service because the customer has not paid for past services). In such a situation, the bypass meter socket may prevent electric current flow between the line terminals and the load terminals and, therefore, prevent electricity from reaching the corresponding building of the delinquent customer.
Typically, when disconnect of electrical service to a particular site or building is desired, a utility service person is dispatched to the particular building and removes the electric meter. To reconnect the electrical service, another service person must be sent out to reinstall the electric meter. Such a sequence is labor intensive and, therefore, expensive.
Current bypass meter sockets, however, are not designed to handle load breaking and load making. Generally, load breaking refers to the ability of the switching device to interrupt a load current without damage, while load making refers to the ability of the switching device to connect to a specific load current without damage. Manufacturers of most bypass meter sockets have attached warning labels indicating that the bypass meter socket is not intended to be used as a load make or load break operational device. Accordingly, the bypass handle should not be moved without an electric meter properly installed into the bypass meter socket. Without an electric meter properly installed, the bypass meter socket may create a deadly arc of electricity if the bypass handle is moved, such that a load make or load break is applied to the bypass meter socket.
Further, manufacturers have attached an additional warning label prohibiting the use of disconnect sleeves (also referred to as “boots”) in the bypass meter socket. Disconnect sleeves are generally placed over the meter blade terminals on the second aspect of the meter and, when placed in the meter socket, prevent current from flowing through the meter. Such a use of disconnect sleeves may be used to disconnect service to a customer for nonpayment. The disconnect sleeves, however, tend to get lodged in the bypass meter socket and tear, thus requiring the use of a special tool for removal. The damaged disconnect sleeves may lead to malfunctions in the bypass meter socket. Without the use of disconnect sleeves, the electric meter must be completely removed from the meter socket to discontinue service.
The alternatives to perform a proper disconnect of service where a bypass meter socket is involved include operating the customer's main breaker to remove the customer load, operating a line side disconnect device connected ahead of the meter (if one has already been installed), disconnecting at the weather head, and disconnecting at the transformer serving the customer. Unfortunately, a service person does not always have access to the customer's main breaker, especially in cases where the disconnect is due to nonpayment of services. The other alternatives require labor intensive procedures to properly perform and, therefore, are very expensive.
Various devices have been developed to assist in meter repair and/or maintenance, including those devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,643,209 to Coston, U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,383 to Heard et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,337 to Pruehs, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,015,314 to Benfante. While fulfilling their intended purposes, the disclosed devices are not intended to be used for disconnecting services or are not designed for use with a bypass meter socket.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,520,798 and 6,846,199, both to Robinson et al., disclose a watt-hour meter socket adapter that may be used to disconnect a bypass meter socket. The watt-hour meter socket adapter utilizes a three-phase circuit breaker, a release mechanism, and a trigger handle used to release the adapter from the latching jaws of the bypass device. While appropriate for its intended purpose, the watt-hour meter socket adapter does not provide indication as to whether the adapter is currently in load make or load break operation. Further, the watt-hour meter socket adapter does not provide an indication as to whether the electricity is single phase or three phase. The disclosed watt-hour meter socket adapter uses a release handle to lock the adapter into place when attached to the bypass meter socket. The jaws of the adapter lock down on the meter terminal or the meter stabs, thereby making the adapter difficult to remove.
What is needed is a meter socket bypass disconnect device for disconnecting service using a bypass meter socket, which may provide load making and load breaking while a meter is removed from the bypass meter socket. Further, what is needed is a meter socket bypass disconnect device that may use disconnect sleeves so that the original meter may remain in the bypass meter socket, while discontinuing service to a particular building. It is to such a device that the present invention is primarily directed.